Several bombs exploded near a Communist Party building in the northern China city of Taiyuan early Wednesday, leaving one dead and at least eight injured.
Time magazine reported that at least one of the survivors is in critical condition.
State-run television, meanwhile, said that 20 vehicles had been damaged by the detonations.
The bombings — there were about a half-dozen, Time reported — took place outside the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party. A widely circulated social media photograph showed emergency trucks in the area while smoke billowed through the air. Another photo making the rounds of China’s social media sites showed a man stretched on the ground, ball bearings scattered nearby, Time reported.
“Judging from the scattering of small metal balls, it is suspected that improvised bombs exploded,” Reuters reported, citing state-run media.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, and Chinese authorities haven’t released any details about blame. But Reuters reported that such bombings in the closed nation aren’t uncommon. China is facing a widening economic gap that has left the poor even poorer — and angry at government corruption.
An attack took place last week in central Beijing, where a car hurtled through a crowd on the outskirts of Tiananmen Square and then burst into flames. Three were killed in that incident, which government officials later blamed on Islamists.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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